welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm brooke baldwin. stay right where you are. we are filling in the blanks of this debt reduction plan that could, one, avert the looming default of the united states treasury and, two, dramatically change the size and scope of the federal government as we know it. senator tom coburn, member of the so-called gang of 6, is standing by for me on capitol hill to answer some questions. first i need to get some news to you. i want to report that president

obama has just summoned congressional democrats to aarr white house. to be clear, democrats only. we're also hearing the top two house republicans, john boehner and eric cantor are to meet with mr. obama at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. so clearly a busy afternoon shaping up at the white house. tell you what, i want to take you now straight to senator coburn who is live for me. sir, good to have you on the program. let me just begin with this. we mentioned these meetings at the white house. my question is, is the fact that there's a democrats only meeting happening now at the white house, does that, sir, signal to you that we have entered a new phase in these talks, these debt reduction talks that the president is now starting the process of essentially selling your gang of six proposal to his people, that the process of the arm twisting and the lining of support is under way? >> oh, i don't know that you can assume that. it may be that he's going to talk to them about a short-term

agreement that i think they announced an hour or so ago that they would like to do in terms of short-term extension. you know, i can't tell you what they're going to meet on. >> so you don't think it's necessarily arm twisting? >> no, i don't think so. i don't think so. >> let me ask you, you mentioned the short term. do you know, sir, when we say short term, i remember hearing from president obama saying, you know, 90, 60, 180, kicking the can down the road not good enough for him. maybe it is now. do we know timeline, when he says short term, what that might entail? >> i certainly don't. to me, short term would be, you know, 30 or 45 days. we still need to solve this. the real problem, brooke, is we have to send a signal to the international financial community that we understand the kind of hole we're in. that we're willing to make the difficult choices and that we can't have what each party wants so there has to be some type of compromise to get there. the best plan, of course, is to take the $9 trillion out over the next ten years and put us on the road to really wonderful

recovery and a future prosperity for the country. that's probably not going to happen. >> i know you've floated this idea of the $9 trillion. let's stay more in the ballpark. what is it? 3.7? >> this one's 3.7. let me make the point. >> go ahead, sir. >> there isn't one international economist out there that doesn't recognize that for us to really get out f of our problem, we eventually have to take $9 trillion out of our budget over the next ten years. so this is a start. $3.7 trillion is a start. $2.7 trillion of it is in spending reductions. a trillion dollars will be increased revenues of government through tax reform and the elimination of tax loopholes and tax expenditures. >> let me stop you there. i want to make sure we're underscoring and italicizing the points you're making. we have to pay down the debt as you mentioned by raising taxes and cutting spending. from what i understand, you're on the gang of six, i'm glad to be talking to you, because you know the sort of nitty-gritty here. we have pulled together from some of our various sources that we're talking 75% spending cuts

and 25% in increased revenues. is that correct? >> that's close. it's increased revenues through economic growth and the elimination of tax loopholes. >> now, in addition to opposing new taxes, house republicans are saying, you know, don't touch the u.s. military. it's off limits. does the gang of six plan envision $80 billion in pentagon cuts as some of us have seen reported? $80 billion? >> yes. that's accurate. >> what kind of reaction have you gotten thus far on the hill from that? >> not bad. look, the pentagon is -- you could cut a trillion dollars out of it over the next ten years, and it'd still be at a level higher than at the height of the iraq surge. in terms of spending. so, you know, for your listeners to put things in perspective, the federal government's twice as big as it was ten years ago. right now. twice as big. so everybody out there that's having to live within a budget, making the hard choices in our

economy today, know that if you've grown something twice in ten years, you obviously can make some significant cuts in it without having any negative effect. >> senator coburn, let's talk about your role in the gang of six. is it correct, i mean, you bolted from the group. it was widely reported a couple of months ago. returned recently when the gang agreed to cut an additional 100-plus billion dollars from entitlement health care programs. and are you rock solid behind this new plan? >> you know, i'm rock solid behind my plan. my plan isn't going to happen. so i'm rock solid behind the plan that gets us on the way and this one does. >> your plan being the $9 trillion? >> yeah. >> the whole thing, it appears to be dependent upon rewriting the tax code. so how do we do that? how do we make all these other changes? how do we avert this, you no kn potential default in 13 days and how do we do all that in an orderly fashion without

something getting hoodwinked, i.e. the american people? >> i think you could have a short-term extension. you could pass something similar to this that was satisfactory to the house, maybe with more spending reductions that would pass the house. and you could say we'll give a conditional debt limit increase based on these things happening. and if these things toent happen, then we're back to where we are today. so you can't get hoodwinked. nobody's going to vote for something that they don't think the process is going to happen. so it has to be tied with some real pain if, in fact, you don't make these changes to the tax code and reductions in spending, then all deals are off. so i think we can accomplish that. it's going to require some trust, but it's also going to require a lot of verification and a condition that any massive increase in the debt limit is only going to happen when this is in place. >> you, sir, are the gold standard among, you know, some conservatives. and just as the president and, perhaps, you don't necessarily say he's selling at this hour to

democrats, perhaps he is. you and i are not in the room. will you be selling it and can you sell to the house republicans trillions of dollars in revenue increases when those folks have been saying time and time again, sorry, not moving a penny? >> well, it's not trillions. and the net effect of it will be no increase in taxes because amt is totally eliminated. if you were to do it on just what the law is today, not a baseline or anything else, what you'd say is there'd be about $1 trillion of increased revenue come to the government through economic growth associated with lowering the tax codes. but there will also be $1.8 trillion that won't come to it through the elimination of the amt. >> but if you don't see -- will house republicans see it the way you just described to me? >> first of all, brooke, there's another point. the house has already passed a debt limit extension. they passed it last night. and what they said is cut spending, cap it for the future and pass a balanced budget

amendment. we're going to be on that. my hope would be that we pass that. >> but we all know, sir, that won't fly through the senate. >> i'm not sure everybody knows that. i hear that said all the time. if that doesn't happen, then the american people ought to ask the members of congress who don't vote for that why is it you don't want a balanced budget amendment? the balanced budget amendment is the only long-term thing that's going to secure your freedom and cause the government to live within its means and not sacrifice the future of the generations that follow us. so the question ought to be asked is why not? so i'm not sure that's the case yet. what i would tell you is i think cut cap and balance is a great prescription, actually it's better than anything else that's out there, other than the $9 trillion, to actually getting us back to health. >> okay. well, let me just take you back, though, to your gang of six plan. just so i'm hearing you crystal clear. because a lot of americans, you know, are wondering and sort of sitting with baited breath hoping we don't hit default in 13 days.

so if the president agrees to some sort of, you know, short-term fix and we do not default in 13 days, the plan that you have come up with will serve as a basis for that short-term plan and that you all will come back together after that short-term plan has expired for a longer term fix? am i hearing that right? >> well, i'm not sure our plan will be the basis for the short-term agreement. i think there may be a short-term agreement because the time necessary to come to an agreement probably is going to be difficult. but the second thing that you have to consider, any plan has to pass the house. and so it's probably going to have to have more spending reduction in it than the gang of six has to be able to get the votes in the house to pass. >> if only to be a fly on the wall at 5:00 eastern in the white house with mr. boehner and mr. cantor and mr. obama. >> i'm sure they've got some flies in there that we could -- you could probably put one of those little microscopes on

there for you. >> we'll see what we can do. now watch this -- >> i saw the man's eyes as he was going over the waterfall, and that was devastating. >> a desperate search under way right now at yosemite national park after these three hikers get swept over this raging waterfall. several people, they were there, they saw it happen. but no one knows who the victims are. plus, a human catastrophe. it is unfolding right now. 11 million people in somalia are starving to death. many of them, little ones, children. but there is a hitch to getting them food. we're going to go in-depth here. we're going to take you live to africa on this developing story, coming up. >> announcer: this past year alone there's been a 67% spike in companies embracing the cloud-- big clouds, small ones, public, private,

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yosemite national park. witnesses say three hikers were swept away at climbing over a guardrail at the park's vernal falls. let's go to catherine hair of our california affiliate kgpe to set this up. >> i saw the man's eyes as he was going over the waterfall. and that was devastating. >> reporter: jacob and amanda were at the top of vernal fall when they saw a group of about ten people climb over the safety rail. >> there was a man with a child in one arm taking photos on the edge of the waterfall. they're not the ones that fell over. it was their family members that were also being irresponsible that unfortunately got the brunt of that. >> jacob noticed another man and woman on what appeared to be a little island in the water. other witnesses said one of the victims fell in. a second person tried to help and also fell in. and a third person followed. two men and a woman fell into the water. >> a lot of people today saw something really dramatic and lives were lost. just really sad. >> i couldn't process why they were in the water when i first saw it. you know, because the current

was moving so fast. >> reporter: linda and dean sabo were also there when it happened. >> and i saw, too, they were holding on to each other and one that was alone floating through the current. and the reason why i looked was this woman was screaming and running along the edge of the water. >> reporter: the victims went over the falls into the rocky pool below. rangers closed the trail that leads up to vernal causing a detour for some hikers. >> it wasn't really that much longer. >> i want to bring in a spokeswoman for yosemite national park. she joins me by phone. first off here, any news on finding these three missing folks? >> we still have not found the bodies of the three individuals that went over vernal falls. we still have rescue crews out there right now that are combing the area looking for any signs. >> i hear you say the word "rescue." so these three are not presumed dead? >> we have, actually -- we put out a statement this morning,

just about an hour ago. we are presuming that the three individuals are dead. the waterfall is actually a 317-foot waterfall and it is in a location of the mersed river that is very rocky and very rough. so we have turned this into a search for recovery effort. >> it is a recovery effort. let me ask you, we're looking at pictures of what appears to be just a gorgeous waterfall here. help me understand the lay of the land. you have on top of the waterfall some sort of guardrail. can you just describe the area for me? how much area is between the guardrail and the waterfall? i mean, how quickly would that fall have been? >> so the trail that goes up to the top of the waterfall is what's known as the mist trail. it's our most popular trail in the park. there is a very large granite slab at the top of the waterfall that's very popular for people to rest and eat their lunches. there is a guardrail that goes across the granite slab. now, this guardrail is just

there, you know, letting people know that beyond this point it's not safe. there's swift water. there are signs that are posted. >> there are signs? >> there are signs, yep, alluding to that very thing. but you can crawl over the guardrail. we don't have a ranger up there saying you can't go here. there's no fencing. a grown individual would be able to get over the guardrail very easy, which is from witness accounts exactly what these three individuals were doing. >> also from witness accounts, we understand there were some children with them. are all the children accounted for? >> i know that the group was with -- excuse me. the three individuals were with a group of family and friends consistenting of multiple ages. everybody else in the group has been accounted for. >> okay. i just want to end this with, it's summertime. people are going to beautiful yosemite, you know, national park and other lovely places across the country. and i just want you to take this moment, you have a message for people. getting a little too close. >> yes. we have very, very high water

right now. we are urging visitors to please take caution around the water, realize that water is very cold, very high and very swift. so please be careful. >> terrible. kari cobb with yosemite national park, thank you so much. coming up next, a dire situation unfolding right now. it is a world away. it hits close to home. millions of somalis are in danger of starving to death. children are dying, parents are grieving, making impossible choices. it is a story that is too important to ignore. cnn has a correspondent on the ground there right now, david mckenzie. he has been tweeting. i encourage you to follow his twitter page as i have been all day long, tweeting some heartbreaking images that we want to bring to you. our conversation is next.

there's a human crisis unfolding right before our very eyes. it is so epic, it is so painful to describe let alone see. but you have to take a look at this photograph here. this image of a father and his child. here is video of a man from somalia. he was driven into kenya by a drou drought so severe that 11 million people are in desperate need of help right now. 11 million people. many will die. in fact, the little girl he was holding in his arms was his daughter. she is one of those victims. she was just 4 years of age when hunger claimed her life. he will pray. here's her burial service. he will pray before burying her in that grave. this is in a refugee camp in kenya. more than 4,000 somalis will crowd into this one camp each week. now, this week the united nations declared the hunger in southern somalia is so severe it is now calling this officially a

famine. if aid does not arrive soon, the disaster is expected to spread. i want to go to cnn's david mckenzie who's live for me at that refugee camp in kenya not too far from the somali border. david, you've been taking and tweeting some gut wrenching, heartbreaking pictures. we're going to share some of those in a moment. i want to begin with these people, these children, these parents, are they getting the aid they need? >> no, they're not, brooke. that's the short answer. the longer answer is, you know, statistics are being thrown around that are sometimes hard for people sitting at home trying to figure out what they mean. 2 million children are in desperate need of help in this region. effectively, this is a child's famine. it's not the adults that are suffering the most. it's the 0 to 5, 5 to 10-year-olds that are really suffering the most. in those numbers there are individuals, brooke, like sarah. like the child who was buried yesterday morning.

we were there at the foot of the grave as ibrahim, her father, was forced to bury his child. something no father should ever have to do, brooke. certainly it's the individuals that are suffering. it's mostly the kids in this region. brooke? >> the kids, they really -- they tell the story, as you mention, the numbers are staggering. we're going to pull up a couple of the pictures that you've been tweeting, david. this first one, let me set it up for you. it's this picture. we see a woman on the inside of what looks like, here she is, a gated off area. many other people are on the other side sort of staring in at her. she's got a yellow sack over her shoulder. can you set this up for me? tell me more about this photograph. >> reporter: well, brooke, this is a woman who's coming in and getting her registration. effectively, people have to go -- to walk from somalia. imagine walking from one country to the next. you're already hungry. you're already thirsty. your family is starving.

and moving across the border, you get to a place like this which in itself is not that welcoming. this woman would have to arrive at 5:00 in the morning, perhaps earlier, wait for hours, come to this gate. between her and the registration there is a barb wire fence. she has to prove that she's not a terrorist. she then has to get her fingers printed and her child's fingers fingerprinted. then she'll get maybe two weeks of rations. a very small amount of food that will have to last for those two weeks. then people are having to wait up to a month because of this backlog to get more food so that they can survive. that girl sarah that we talked about in the beginning of our discussion, she had arrived. and her situation got worse when she got here. not better. so the aid needs to come into this camp desperately so people can actually be helped and have the dignity that they deserve as refugees. >> we're going to talk a little bit more about the aid and the difficulty in getting it in

because of this mill tast terrorist organization, al shabab, with my guest in just a moment. i want to show one more picture, david. it's a woman sitting on a bed with a young child. as we look at this image i want to also show a tweet. because this is the most recent tweet. i think this will really help explain this to our american viewers. you tweeted the crisis in the horn of africa isn't new. this has been a refugee camp for many, many years. what is it about this day, this week, this situation that makes it so, so dire? >> reporter: brooke, that child sitting on that bed, if that's the photo we're talking about, that's maria. she's 2 years old. have a look at her. 2 years old. she looks like she could be a newborn. she weighs less than a newborn. but she came trekking with her mother across the border and effectively has to be fed through her nose because she can't take in food. that's the situation that people are facing here in kenya coming

from somalia. and the real tragedy of this is that as all famines effectively these days are manmade. the southern part of somalia, the areas that have been declared famine zones, are mostly in control of al shabab, the islamic militant group. they threw out the world food program some years ago and basically if the u.n. could get in there, get major -- funding and major food coming into those zones, it could help this crisis pretty quickly. but the major problem is over time people in this region are living on the edge. this has just pushed them off. >> david mckenzie, i appreciate you standing there and taking these photographs. i want to encourage so many people to follow you on twitter. david, thank you so much. speaking of the aid and the issues of getting the aid in the country, unicef says this crisis on the horn of africa is a children's famine. the relief group is calling for

more help for the region where it says half a million children are at imminent risk of dying. i'm joined on the phone from nairobi and kenya. the pictures david was showing us are heart wrenching. the problem of hunger and drought in the horn of africa as we were just discussing isn't anything new. what makes this situation, what makes it more dire than ever before? >> well, i think we're dealing with a magnitude in numbers that we haven't seen for a long time. we estimate, you know, more than 11 million people are in need. and of those --

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all right. quick check of the day's top stories including a leopard on the attack in india. look at these images. look at this. six people were mauled by this stray leopard after it wandered into a village in india. wild leopard, i should say. apparently it was spooked by a crowd of curious people. it was eventually caught. also a showdown in memphis with school children caught in the middle of this. the school board says it will not open schools until the city pays up, pays $55 million it owes to the school district. the board says it needs the money to open the doors but the mayor says he is working toward a resolution and he believes school will start on time. teachers are expected back to work august 1st, kids august 8th.

the new susan boyle. the 22-year-old korean who is wowing the world with his voice. let's listen. ♪

all right. this just into us here at cnn. a new development in the "news of the world" hacking scandal today. the fbi, the department of justice have agreed to meet with 9/11 families to discuss a report alleging the "news of the world" attempted to hack into their loved ones' phone records.

no date has been set yet for the meeting. national correspondent susan candiotti has been digging on this. bring me up to speed. >> the families have been wanting this meeting for the longest time, since last week after the fbi launched an investigation to look into this report in a british tabloid. the tabloid signing inciting a source alleged that a new york investigator had been contacted by "the news of the world" to be hired to try to hack into phone records and voice mails of 9/11 families. so the fbi doesn't know at this point whether that report is true. that's what they're looking at. as soon as they heard about it, 9/11 families said we want to meet with the fbi. we want to meet with the u.s. attorney general himself to discuss this allegation. this suspicion, brooke. >> now that we know this meeting will be happening, this meeting that as you mentioned, these 9/11 victims have been demanding for some time, do you think given what you're hearing from your sources, will the meeting

resolve things or might it result in a full-blown investigation? >> you know, that's really unclear. because the justice department went to great pains to point out to the family that we will not only discuss with you just this allegation, but we're going to make it about all kinds of issues, ongoing issues, that we know that you have concerns about. and certainly, brooke when the fbi is conducting an investigation they're certainly not going to lay out details of what they've gather shered so f. they don't do it to the public and they certainly don't do it to the press. so the families, on the other hand, are insistent to say we are happy to cooperate. if you want to look at our old phone records to see whether there's any information to make things easier on you, we're happy to sign any agreements to turn over that -- that information to you and see what happens. so it's far too early to say whether it will go beyond that. >> but at least we know it is now finally happening. susan candiotti, thanks. coming up next, move over,

susan boyle. ♪ >> all right. so the guy's got some pipes. did you know they have a tv showed "korea's got talent"? they just unearthed this. a 22-year-old with an amazing voice. his background makes it even more remarkable. [ bell chiming ]

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oh, yes. remember susan boyle and her amazing voice, blew everyone away, moved some people to tears on "britain's got talent"? remember that. "kor "korea's got talent" has got its own susan boyle. living on the street, sleeping in staircases and public toilets as a kid. the story and performance are now an internet sensation. that is why now it's trending. watch this from my colleague, paula hancocks. >> reporter: trying to calm those last-minute nerves. choy seems just like thousands of other hopefuls on "korea's got talent." but he's not.

>> reporter: for the next ten years, he lived on the streets selling gum and energy drinks. he slept in stairwells or public toilets. >> reporter: and then came this. ♪ >> reporter: this powerful baritone voice from a 22-year-old is as impressive as his determination to pull himself from the streets to the stage. ♪ >> reporter: his rendition of the italian song, "my fantasy," reduced the judges and the audience to tears.

he says he still feels a little uncomfortable being part of the competition. >> reporter: but he did make it through. coming out on top in the first round of the semifinals. he told the judges he's both scared and excited by the attention. he's thankful he made it on to the show. >> reporter: he has become an internet sensation. so far well over 10 million people have watched him on youtube. and the fact that korea usually rigorously trains and grooms its pop stars before debuting them makes his raw talent and success even more impressive. he's favorite to win the

competition. and even if he doesn't, one of the judges pledged to help him with his voice training, the first time she heard him sing. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul. >> is that not amazing? that is amazing, paula hancocks. thanks for telling the story. coming up next, the motto of the mill len yells. live happy and at home with your parents. why generation y is reversing course and breaking with tradition. back in a moment. [ male announcer ] you know there are germs on every surface in your mouth.

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they may be the biggest

boomerang generation in history. the babies of the baby boomers, millennials or generation y, their parents are asking, why are you still living at home? poppy harlow looks into that as she looks at the mindset of the. >> another morning, another wake-up call from dad. like so many gey-y 'ers, preston lives at home. >> you get the privileges of being an adult without all the responsibilities. >> that's one of the traits of the roughly 50 million mill lynnians between 8 and 29 years old. this is a generation that will say well, i got a job mom or dad and i didn't like it so i quit it. >> i think work-life balance is part of it. you can have your cake and eat it, too. >> that's not asking for too much? >> no, of course not. >> preston works for fellow

millennial. >> the ceo calls me up. jason, we need you, our gen yers are driving us crazy. their pants are falling off. >> he rakes up $25,000 per speech, teaching a slew of fortune 500 companies how to work with his generation. >> what are the defining characteristings of millennial is a sense of entitlement. showing up and feeling like people owe you things. >> we show up, we want to make a difference from day one. which is totally huge. that's why we think we should be vice president, right? >> reporter: the generational divide in the request work place

is clear. >> if you're a gen y and you're managing a gen x'er and they say well, where did you get your data from? >> they think they're special, they're different and they don't fit in the mold of the traditional millennials. and then there are the doting parents. how often do you come by and bring food and make dinner? >> whenever i either get invited or i'm not invited, i'm here. >> she doesn't want to say because it's embarrassing. >> reporter: but millennials may just have a better perspective on life than generations before them. >> i definitely don't want to get rich. >> really? >> that's what we've been told from a young age. do what makes you happy. >> the millennials just want something they can put on facebook. >> i want to go back to the guy making $25,000 for a speaking

engagement. tell me he's not living with mom and dad still. >> no, he's not. he has a pretty sweet house on his own. but his mom comes over almost every night and brings dinner and helps with the kids and brings flowers. i was more thinking like that sounds great. but, you know, it is an interesting thing with this generation. and i'll tell you how involved their parents get. i'm part of this generation, but a lot of parents get so involved, brooke, he told us a story, jason who consults with companies about gen y's, one time he had a company that told them a mother of one of his employees called because he wasn't happy with the son's review, tried to get the bos fired for giving a bad review. you see this overinvolvement of parents a lot in this generation and it affects the kids in the work place. it's very, very interesting. >> when you have mom and dad weaking your child up at age 29, i think mom and dad get to have a little bit of involvement and say, i guess. thank you so much. still to come here's some

new developments coming in to that 8-year-old boy. we're learning more on how he was killed. be right back.

time now for your cnn equals politics update. let's go to wolf blitzer. what do you have? >> i'm going to tell you, i love

that piece you just had on about the singer. >> don't you love that? >> that was so moving. i could see your eyes beginning to get a little moist, am i right or wrong? >> a little bit. >> did you get a little emotional. >> i love hearing italian opera and hearing him sing. >> what a story, too. let me tell you about some politics going on. your eyes are not going to get moist hearing about the political ticker stuff. but i'll tell you what's going on. the president is meeting with democrats, democratic leaders, republican leaders. he's desperately searching for some sort of breakthrough. we did hear a little bit of a tweak in the white house position. remember last week, and you do remember this, brooke, i'm sure. he said he was not going to go along with a 30 day, a 60-day, a 90-day, or even a 120-day whatever extension. some stop gap, short-term measure. today the white house is saying if it's necessary for a few days, he's willing to go along with an extension beyond the august 2 deadline in order to

avoid default and get some sort of bigger deal. he likes this -- the framework of this gang of six proposal. and i saw your interview with senator coburn. he likes that. and a lot of democrats and republicans in the senate like it. the question is, do they have 218 votes in the house of representatives? because there are a lot of republicans as you know, brooke, in the house who don't want any tax increases whatsoever. and there are plenty of democrats in the house who don't want to fool around with social security, medicare entitlements, whatsoever. with we're go i think to get two representatives in the house of representatives in "the situation room" later today. david wasserman shultz who also happens to be the chair of the democrat party. she's got a lot to say about this. also jason chaffetz, tea

partier. he has a different perspective. the real battle is not necessarily going to be in the senate it's going to be in the house of representatives. we'll see what happens there. one final note, pete hoekstra, the former chairman of the house intelligence commission announces he's going to throw his hat in the ring. so we'll see what happens in michigan. that will be lively. no doubt about that. brooke? >> thank you so much. i don't know if you've seen this yet. take a good long look with me. you, too, folks. want to remind everyone. look, no excuses not to watch wolf blitzer, myself, or just keep up on your news. the first news network in the u.s. to stream 24-hour news online on a mobile device, which means even if you're not in front of a tv, no excuses. you can still watch me and all your other favorites live. all you have to do is go to cnn.com/video. and now watch this.

a 4-year-old girl dies because she's hungry. no food, no water anywhere in sight. now 11 million could share that fate. it's a human crisis unfolding right before our very eyes. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. it's called the gang of six plan, but many question whether it could solve america's credit problem before it's too late. i'll talk live with one democrat who calls it a game changer. the head of the snake may be gone, but al qaeda's new strategy could change the way america fights terror. plus, hours from now, this man will die. a killer convicted for his rampage after 9/11. but one of his victims survived and says call off the execution. >> please, do the right thing. save a human life. >> the clock is ticking. and michele bachmann says she could still run the country, despite a health problem.

elizabeth cohen has the truth about migraines. welcome back. top of the hour here. want to begin with some breaking news. we now know how that little boy just 8 years old from brooklyn died. if the examiner says 8-year-old leiby kietzky was droged and then smothered. steve, let me just remind everyone. we're looking at surveillance video. this is from different posts in and around this neighborhood where you can see this 8-year-old, there he is. and next to him was 345-year-old

levi aron who's been charged with murder and kidnap in the first degree. apparently he was given a muscle relaxant, an anti-psychotic drug, a pain medication and the drug find in tylenol. when you hear that, what's your first reaction? >> well, the first thing that i think of is in kidnapping and sexual assault cases and pedophilia involving children, these drugs are sometimes used, especially the opiates, the muscle relaxants are used to maintain control over the child. so inform all likelihood this was done to calm him and to allow aron to perpetrate whatever it was that he perpetrated against him during that time that he had him incarcerated. i noticed in the press release, we don't see really the concentration, so it's kind of hard to see or judge how badly it may have affected him during that time period. >> also in what we've been reading from new york police commissioner who's just describing this whole thing as heart breaking and heart

wrenching. he says this suspect told authorities he was sorry for the trouble he'd caused and that he hears voices and ha luis nates. typical? >> typical. and, you know, it's -- that may be the case, but in all likelihood, this is the defense that is going to be mounted by his attorneys. they're going to claim insanity. as i mentioned last week on the show, how could someone not be a psychotic so muciopath and comm these kinds of crimes against a child. it's likely not his first time. this is not how one begins the life of crime, if you will. >> but, you know, from what i've read, he has no serious -- nothing serious in his background other than just urinating in public was all he had on his record, that's it. what more do you think here about this case? when you and i were talking about, you seemed to have

information that the two individual, the 8-year-old boy and the 35-year-old knew each other, but we're still not hearing that from the police. do you know something more? >> well, he was employed in a hardware store about a block from where the family lived. a source said that there was some sort of degree of aknowance, if you will. this community is very secret, very private in what they do. so had aron had some sort of criminal background, some criminal behavior that was brought to their attention, they would likely handle it in-house rather than bring it forth to the police department. so i'm not sure why and if -- or why that hasn't been reiterated by law enforcement, but it is interesting that this is the case, that from what we're hearing from people within the community is that he did know the child. . >> i just -- you know, read that

the community, you know, the hasidic jewish community in brooklyn shocked about this whole thing. coming together, but perhaps maybe the fact that they're closed off is making it more difficult for police to get information and investigate. thank you so much for hopping on the line as we're getting that breaking news from brooklyn. appreciate it. and now i want to take you to a crisis that is threatening the lives of 500,000 children right now. it's happening along somalia's border with kenya and really across the horn of africa. here's another number. 11 million people are in desperate need of help. the problem is hunger, so severe, the united nations this week labelleded this crisis a famine. difd david mckenzie reports from a refugee camp where parents face the task of burying their children. >> this man carries the body of his dead child.

she drew her last breath at dawn. she was 4 years old. facing mecca, they pray for her soul and bury her. severely malnourished, ibrahim tried to get sarah to the nearest hospital. but a ride costs more than $1 here, more than any of these refugees could afford. sarah's uncles say they fled here hoping for better. we didn't come with money from somalia. we didn't come with anything. but we're refugees but we're dying because we don't get enough help. ibrahim's family arrived tired and hungry, but he said they were forced to beg for food for two weeks. when they finally got given it, it didn't help. we haven't been given enough help, he says. we've been given only flour and

maize and a child who is sick will not get better on that. now he worries he could lose another child and his daughter is dangerously thin. it's in god's hands, he says. it's not in mine. but if it stays this bad, more people will die. they call this place carcass. it's where people leave their animals to die. but sarah's father says they protected her well. the hyenas won't be able to reach her, he says. she's already in paradise. >> more than 4,000 somalis will crowd into that one camp each week, each person desperate for food, clean water, a place to sleep. as you can imagine, it's a humanitarian nightmare. i want you to watch as david mckenzie now takes us on a tour of this camp. >> this is the entrance to the camp. the people here are tired, they're exhausted. many of them haven't had food or even water for a long time.

they've come here since 5:00 a.m. and while the lines don't look that big right now, it's already almost midday and these people just keep on stream into this camp. they're coming from somalia, they're walking, they're taking cars. sometimes spending up to $40. i want to show you something over here. you know, these people, these families have just come in moments ago. they have come in because they don't have food where they are. the conflict has pushed them out of somalia and they're really in a desperate situation. >> so you heard david mention the disparity and also the conflict, specifically in this region. i want to bring in jill dougherty. jill, severe drought, famine. as if that's not enough, somalia is a country ripped apart by this militant terrorist organization called al-shabbab.

how do they multiply challenges to get food and aid to the people in need. >> if you look at what's been happening to them literally for the last two years. you know, al shabaab is an islamist terrorist organization. they control taxes and bribes of people who want to get into those areas. so when the international, u.s. international aid organizations try to get in there, they have to pay bribes. and the united states has been saying, that's not what we're going to do. and now, al shabaab for some reason has said they're going to lift these restrictions, but the question is, as susan rice, who is the u.s. ambassador to the united nations said, it's not clear whether they're actually going to do that or not. but at the briefing that we had at the state department yesterday, they said they're

sending -- that there are some teams going in there and testing whether they can actually get in. you know, there's 60% of the people who need help can't get it because of al shabaab. >> this is the first time in two years they've been able to bring in any kind of food to this country, very much so in need. but here's my follow-up question to that. if you're dropping in food and many countries are gripped by the control of these terrorists, how can they even guarantee that aid doesn't get intercepted into the wrong hands? >> well, that's one of the controls, the problems that they have in controlling it. but somebody has to get in there. but somebody has to get in there. this is the wost drought in 60 years. people walking ten days across the desert. what's happening in the united states has just upped the money

that they are giving. the u.s. is giving now a total of $459 million. hillary clinton, the secretary of state just today, in fact, said another $28 million, that's part of that, is going to help out the situation, but it is desperate. the u.n.'s ban ki moon says they need help with this over the next few months or it's going to spread through the entire region. >> wow. not only all of these different layers, though, to this story, make it even more challenging, look, this isn't anything new. child soldiers in the reports that al shabaab and some of the war lords are grabbing some of these young children refugees, trying to seek safe haven, find food, and forcing them to fight in their battles. how rampant is that? >> oh, entirely possible.

sometimes you can't talk about one individual, but definitely as a group, you can say that they do do this, absolutely. they've done it before during the conflict. i talked to one about a year ago. it's not new. and it was a horrendous situation. they are forced to fight, forced to murder out of desperation. >> go to cnn.com/impact to find out how you can help. coming up next, the deadline is almost here. there's still no deal over the debt kreel, but here's what i can tell you. president obama is expected to meet within an hour now with republican leaders, house republican leaders there at the white house. however, there is a proposal floating around that some say could be a game-changer in this entire standoff. but will all sides agree to it before it's too late?

i'll ask democratic senator tom harper about the plan and whether there's some arm twisting perhaps going on behind the scenes. don't miss this. check out the miles per gallon. the length of the power train warranty. and the horsepower. only ram delivers this kind of muscle. that'll thin out the herd real quick. guts. glory. ram.

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[ male announcer ] time to check your air conditioning? come to meineke now and get a free ac system check and a free cooler with paid ac service. meineke. we have the coolest customers. a lot of activity happening right now in a race to head off default of the u.s. government. the republicans have made raising the so-called debt ceiling contingent upon slashing the deficit and the national debt. let me show you where the action is right now. right there. the white house. just about an hour ago, the top democrats from capitol hill arrived there to talk to the president about the emerging debt reduction plan put forth by those six senators, three republicans, three democrats. the top two house republicans are to confer with the president in just about 45 minutes from now.

so let's go to capitol hill. let's hash through some of this with senator tom carper, democrat from delaware. senator carper, bear with me. we're going to rip through some of these basics, senator. we're hearing $3.7 trillion in debt reductions over ten years. all part of this gang of six plan. 75% of that have is spending cuts. 25% from increased revenues. i just want to ask you, that is what we're hearing. is that what you're hearing, sir? >> that's what we're hear, yeah. the history goes back about a year ago. the president created a deficit reduction commission. co-chaired by erskine bowles. and also co-chaired by alan simpson, former republican senator from wyoming. they put together a plan that reduced the deficits over ten years by about $4 trillion. 2/3 to 3/4 on the spending side, 1/3 on the revenue side.

and the gang of six is really an outgrowth. some of the people who served on the deficit commission with erskine bowles and alan simpson. >> we have received -- we have word from the white house that this plan, so far of just six, moves forward, that the president is now willing to agree to a short-term extension on the federal debt ceiling. we listened to him before, what was it, last week in the daily briefing where he derided the whole plan. he said i don't want to kick the can down the road. i want a long-term fix. what is your reaction to the turn around? what do you think, senator, changed the president's mind? >> well, the president sat in negotiations with john boehner in the house and senate, he wanted a big deal, wanted to try to get to $4 trillion in deficit savings. a democrat, we have to be willing to put on the table entitlement programs and we ask for republicans to join us by putting some revenues on the

table. we go back to '93 where we had balanced budgets for three or four years in a row. they actually did a 50-50 deal, 50% spending cuts and 50% on the revenue side. the american people want a deal like this. not everyone. the folks on the far right don't want any revenues. if the foxes on the left want a lot of revenues and not much on the spending side. >> is that what it is now, sir, the president is saying okay to a short-term plan. is he just having to listen to loud voice s on the right? >> i hope in terms of a short-term plan, the president would be willing to let us have a month or two to try to work out the details of the gang of six's proposal. and the idea of raising the debt ceiling for a month or two, i think that's the smart thing to do. that way we don't have to rush needlessly to get something done that we'll later regret. >> so perhaps then it would be moot to ask you how many votes in the senate the gang of six

plan would need for approval if that's actually not the plan that they would try to get through in 13 days. >> i think ultimately we may take parts of the plan and get separate votes on different parts of the plans. doing that, it might be easier to get to 60. the other part is to try to do it all at once. that might not be the best approach, but we've got some time -- i think the smart thing to do, raise the debt kreceilin for a month. if we have good faith negotiations. i think we do. we had half republicans, half democrats ekwa al qaedaly divided, a lot of spirit to move this forward. >> i want to ask something i asked the republican senator of oklahoma, senator tom coburn. he was on last hour. this plan, this particular gang of six plan hinges on appearing

to rewrite the tax code. how do we do that? how do we agree on all these other changes? how do we avert a government default in less than two weeks? how do we do all that in an orderly fashion without the american people feeling like they got hoodwinked? >> well, what we can do is if we want to raise the -- we're borrowing $120 billion a month. that's a lot of money. if we extend that to a month or two, we can work through this. i serve on the finance committee, the tax writing committee in the senate, suggest to us what the amount of money that we're looking for from revenues, looking for from savings from different programs, give us a couple of month. if we give ourselves 18 months to do this. we'll use 18 months. work expands to fill the amount of time we give to a particular job. we don't need to wait 1 months to do this. 12 months or six months. we don't have to rush to do it tomorrow, but we need to get moving. >> hmm.

senator tom carper a lot of americans will agree with you on the getting moving things. >> i know they do in delaware. thank you. coming up, terrifying mom t moments caught on camera. find out what scared this big cat. look at this. also developing now. now that osama bin laden is gone, al qaeda is apparently changing its strategy. not only would that anger bin laden, but it could change how america fights terror. you've got to hear this next. yo? well, look how much insurance many people can get through selectquote for less than a dollar a day. selectquote found, rich, 37, a $500,000 policy for under $18 a month. even though dave, 43, takes meds to control his blood pressure, selectquote got him a $500,000 policy for under $28 a month. ellen, 47, got a $250,000 policy for under $20 a month.

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if it's interesting and it's happening right now, you're about to see it. the families of 9/11 victims will be meeting with the feds

and the justice department. that is now according to their lawyer. there are fears that the tabloid reporters hacked into their voice mails. this is all based on a report in britain's "daily mirror" newspaper. this comes one day after rue merit murdoch denied any direct involvement of hacking by reporters of the "news of the world" newspaper. six people were mauled by this stray leopard after it wandered into a village in india. they made several attempts to tranquilize the leopard and it was eventually caught. syrian troops shot and killed perhaps as many as ten people during a funeral for protesters. this happened tuesday. mourners scattered when gunfire erupted. and some of those syrians told rueters, troops in armored vehicles moveded into every

neighborhood in homes. just a reminder, we have to rely on our amateur video coming out of syria. journalists had not been allowed in country, although we've had several folks in the capital city of damascus. and a showdown with schoolchildren caught in the middle. the school board says it won't open schools until the city pays $55 million it owes the school district. the board says it needs the money to open the doors. but the mayor says he is working towards a resolution and he believes school will start on time. teachers are supposed to go back to school august 1, kids back to school august 8. and the crew of atlantis woke up to a little classical music this morning. ♪ the shuttle is on its way back to earth as i speak. today was its final day in orbit. it's expected to make its final landing early tomorrow morning back down at kennedy.

this will wrap up a 13-day mission and mark the end to nasa's 30-year space shuttle program. look at those pictures. to new york for a homecoming of sports. after ten years just about, ladder three is returning to ground zero. this truck was used by first responders during the attacks on the world trade center. it is leaving its storage facility at jfk airport and will become a permanent fixture at the 9/11 memorial museum there at ground zero. 2 1/2 months after the death of osama bin laden, al qaeda has its new leader and appears to be changing its tactics a bit. let's go to the pentagon and go to chris lawrence. talk to me about how al qaeda is evolving and what kind of threat it poses still to us here at home. >> well, brooke, the homeland is always going to be under threat of attack. but americans abroad may have more reasons to worry under al qaeda's leadership.

here's why. to his last day, osama bin laden was obsessed with staging a spectacular attack here in the united states. but his successor is more willing to stage regional attacks overseas, going after diplomats, u.s. military installations, even companies, western companies and americans working abroad. some of those companies may not have the security procedures that some u.s. institutions would have. several reasons for this. one, security is beefed up here. and officials say you need a more specialized operative to crack american security today. another reason is that al qaeda has been dealt a few setbacks. i mean, you look at what osama bin laden brought to the table and he had a tremendous amount of patience. he would nurture a plot for years and years. whereas you look at the last couple of plots, the christmas day bomber whose explosives started smoldering onboard the plane and let people subdue him. the times square bomber last

year whose explosive failed to detonate. they had not been provided sufficient amount of training to work those improvised explosive devices. so you may have a less capable rushed sort of operation out there. that may lead to more regional attacks more in line with the al qaeda affiliates and what they have in mind. >> the home office and the satellite office. you have al qaeda and the very powerful offshaut, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. any chance they'll be locking arms, joining forces, creating a more powerf fuful force? >> there were talks of zawahiri aligning himself. but this idea of a merger for all intense and purposes, al qaeda and al qaeda in the

arabian peninsula, they work together. they're already allies. so in some respects they're already there. and as for the two men themselves that i ear very different. they come from very different backgroun backgrounds. and for zawahiri, he's not considered the easiest man to get along with. it remains to see how much cooperation there will be with other groups around the world. >> thank you. in many polls, mitt romney appears to be the early favorite to win the republican 2012 nomination, but there are two people surging in polls, one of them isn't even officially in the race. who might that be? that's next. my cream is what makes stouffer's fettuccini alfredo so delicious. i think you'll find it's the vegetables. deliciously rich. flavorful!

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time now for cnn equals politics update. the latest news, fresh off the

political ticker. what's going on with michele bachmann. she's in iowa today. a lot of news about her migraines. is she able to move past that? >> she's trying, brooke, no doubt about that. twice today she's been asked about the migraines. she said listen, i've already answered that question and she's trying to move on saying she's fine. but just in the last few minutes, brooke, her campaign released this statement from her docker to and described her status as overall in good health. the doctor goes on to say, your migraines occur infrequently and have known trigger factors of which you are aware and know how to avoid. the doctor says she's able to avoid the infrequent occurrences with prescribed medication. this has been the big story concerning backman over the last 4 hours and some say this wouldn't make her fit to be president. what she's trying to do today is talk about the economy and the deficit and the out of control

spending in washington, d.c. she was trying to illustrate, kind of like ross perot used to do, how spending is out of control here in washington. why she voted against the cut, cap and balance amendment saying it didn't go far enough. she voted against it yesterday, brooke. >> how is she doing, paul? when you look at the recent polling? >> you know, she is doing very well. she's definitely been on the rise. in fact, nbc wall street journal, a national poll came out yesterday, second straight national gop horse race poll where she's in second place. you can see right there at 16%. look at that, the governor of texas, rick perry, he's not in the race, but he's climbing in the polls. stay tuned. this race is getting more exciting by the day. >> thank you so much.

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here we go, we have a rare warning about bad behavior in the navy. american airlines makes a big purchase and we get the truth behind migraines. time to play "reporter roulette. barbara starr, let's begin there at the pentagon. talk about this memo that was sent out last month regarding the navy. >> that's right, brooke. the chief naval operations, the head officer in the u.s. navy, not very happy right now. the commander of an air squadron was relieved of duty for what's described as an alcohol-related incident while on port call in the middle east. that is just the latest. so far this year, 14 commanding officers in the united states navy, relieved of duty for misconduct. 14 wrapping up july. but that compares to 17 also of

last year. that has led admiral gary roughhead, the ceo to write a blunt four-page memo reminding commanding officers, and i quote, you will be held accountable to the highest scan dards of conduct. that from the cno to the fleet, reminding them not to misbehave. brooke? >> so we're still in july here. you mentioned alcohol incidents. what else have some of these guys been up to? >> there have been alcohol incidents, allegations of inappropriate relationships. there was an incident when a commanding officer was relieved in part for mishandling a loaded weapon onboard a ship and at least two cases where commanding officers were relieved of duty for running their ships into buoys while in port. brooke? >> thank you so much. american airlines buying hundreds of new planes. alison kosic has more.

i know this is being called the largest commercial orderner history. >> exactly. these planes begin flying around 2013. 460 planes. the orders being split between boeing and airbus, which is based in europe. and the types of planes that are going to be coming in are the most popular commercial jets that are used on domestic routes. analysts say american airlines really desperately needs to upgrade its fleet. its planes average about 15 years old. and they're fuel guzzlers, too. the american will reportedly try to have internet access across its entire domestic fleet. better lighting, entertainment systems, good stuff for flyers. >> more fuel efficient, i wonder if that means the price of a ticket would go down. >> probably not. >> probably not she says. a dose of reality. let's talk about mail. i remember as a kid i used to run out to the mailbox. now i just hate the mail because

it's all bills. our mailboxes may be a little emptier. >> on saturday, you know, the usps, maybe just doing away with saturday delivery. that could happen soon. but before it does happen, congress has to approve it. the usps would have to give six months notice to customers. even if there isn't any saturday delivery at the post office, it would still be open, express mail would still be delivered. if it does do this, it says, hey, we're going to save $3 billion, and we all know why this is happening. we're doing the electronic billing,less snail mail. >> the usps, they're discussing maybe even having three day a week delivery. that could be an option, not time soon, but it's something they're discussing that could happen within 15 years. imagine only having to get your bills three times a week. that would be a little better, i guess.

>> i can't get away from the online billing. we've got to pay. bottom line, whether it's in your mailbox or online. thank you so much. do you suffer from may grains? i do every blue moon. it's not fun. we just told you a short time ago, her doctors say she's in overall good health. with all the talk about terrible headaches, we want to know what's the real deal? here's elizabeth cohen. elizabeth? >> 30 million americans suffer from migraines and apparently michele bachmann is one of them. "the daily caller" says former staffers told them that she has them weekly and that they incapacitate her for days. now bachmann says yes, she does have migraines but they're not nearly that bad. >> oom i prescribe medication i take on occasion whenever symptoms arise and they keep my migraines under control. but i would like to be abundantly clear.

my ability to function effectively will not affect my ability to serve as commander-in-chief. bachmann's son is a physician and he says look, maybe my mother can't run a mile but she can take in and process information at least fine. he did say at least twice she's had to have emergency treatment for her migraines while traveling. doctors tell us indeed when people get the right treatment, they can function at a perfectly high level. however, there are some migraine suffererers who say they really can't work and do go out on disability. now, of course, we don't know the exact extent of her headaches, but she says that she can function just fine. bachmann's son says that she has noticed that she sometimes will get migraines when she wears high heels. experts tell us it can cause back pain. back pain can trigger migraines. who knows. maybe it's the heels. >> i don't know about the high heels. i should have them every day if

that's the case. that's your reporter roulette for this wednesday. now this. >> please, do the right thing, save a human life. >> a convicted killer has just two hours to live. set to die tonight for a racist ram pain after 9/11. but coming up next, find out why one of his victims is begging texas to stop the execution. also, a lesbian couple says a hotel would not host their weddi wedding. wait until you hear how much they're suing for. stay right here. i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars...

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>> in just a couple of hours a man 1 scheduled to be put to death for a rampage against muslims. who is asking to spare his life? one of his victim ps. >> please, spare a human life. >> he lost his eye after he was shot in the face. he surviveded. two others did not. strohman says he went on the shooting spree because his sister died in the 9/11 attacks and he was filled with rage and obsessed with fighting back. but he's been touched by his victim's words. >> it is a lesson of forgiveness, for him to step forward after i tried to take his life and he's trying to save mine. that speaks volumes. >> the victim is still trying to stop the execution. today he's asked a judge to delay it and let him meet with

strom strom stroman. the judge's decision is expected any minute now. and a lesbian couple in vermont refused to host their wedding reception because they're gay. now they're suing this hotel, they say a law states hotels can not turn away based on their sexual orientation. lindsey's mother talked to the events coordinator there. this is the wildflower inn, but when she told them there would be two brides and no groom, this is the e-mail she says she got. quote, after our conversation, i checked with my inkeepers and unfortunately due to their personal feelings they do not host gay receptions at our facility. but get this -- the couple is suing for $1. they say it's all about principle, not about the money. >> if we don't speak up when we're being mistreated, then how can we expect other people to treat us well. >> our cnn affiliate in vermont

says the owners are catholics and same-sex marriage goes against their religious beliefs. coming up, what it's like when mother nature's fury is released through a manhole. and here we go, the clock is ticking. republican house leaders expected to walk into the white house and meet with the president. is a deal on the debt ceiling close? stay right there.

you've got to see this. take a look with me. these are roads in sioux falls, south dakota, that have buckled

under the heat. that's right. the roads there, so hot they crumbled, making the morning commute to work even more fun. note the sarcasm. take a look at what happened in montreal. heat not involved here. a flash flood caused sewers to overflow. the sewer water was spewing like a geyser. lifted that car right up off the ground. as a tornado destroyed her home, laura odged lost everything including the hope of ever seeing her beloved cat rascal again who had disappeared during the twister. that is until -- awww -- until she found a surprise lying underneath her drug in the driveway. you guessed it. rascal after 75 days made his way home. obviously he was in need of a little tlc and a good meal.

coming up here in mere minutes, "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. wolf, we are minutes away from a big, big meeting at the white house. >> the president of the united states is trying to convince the republican leadership, the house speaker, the house majority leader, john boehner, eric cantor to go along with this more ambitious gang of six proposal for deficit reduction. it includes some tax increases. the conservatives in the mouse, the real tea party advocate, they hate any idea of any tax increases whatsoever. it also includes some tax cuts on medicare -- some cuts in spending for medicare and social security which a lot of liberal democrats hate. so there's going to be a big fight. i don't think the problem, as you know, is in the senate. the problem is really in the house of representatives. so the president has got to convince the republican leadership to go along with this ambitious plan. the white house now making it clear, despite earlier comments from the president he would accept a few days extension, a

stop-gap measure to keep these negotiations going beyond august 2 if necessary. we're going to have two representatives, a liberal democrat, debbie waserman shultz, skon conservative republican jason chaffetz from utah. we'll pick their brains to see where they stand on an effort to make sure the united states does not default come august 2. we'll have a strong show coming up. you stick around after you're done working at 5:00 p.m. eastern and you wait two hours to watch "the situation room" before you go home. is that right? >> how did you have me figured it? i pop my popcorn and watch you for two hours. meantime, guess who's about to star in reality tv? this lovely lady, the first lady. yep, a reality show. joe johns has "the political pop" next. s an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon on the highway.

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i could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunities that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing with professionals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

well, i know a lot of you like to tweet up a storm, but did you know the republican twitter debate is tonight. regardless of whether you think this is a new way of doing politics on social media, is it a good thing, a bad thing. it certainly looks like it's going to be around far little while. joe johns is here. joe? >> first, we had the presidential twitter town hall. you remember that. >> yes. >> now the twitter debate is

sort of a virtual debate. the commands don't have to be all in the same room like you see them so many times during election years. in fact, they don't even really have to do the tweeting as far as i can see. at least they can have an aide help them if they need it. the candidates participating include michele bachmann, herman cain, newt gingrich, rick santorum and gary johnson. a bunch of them. the questions are going to come from people like the conservative radio host rusty humphreys. so that's certainly we'll be watching. not just for what the candidates say, but from how it's sort of ends up being pulled off, you know, brooke? >> you mentioned the president's twitter town hall. he was doing some of the tweeting himself. now there's some research on how it went. kid did you cull through all that research, joe? >> yeah, it's interesting stuff. it's a pretty detailed report.

dem graphically, there were more men than women tweeting. top demographic group, 25 to 34. duh. the most actively shared question was from none other than house speaker john boehner. the question was, after embarking on a record spending bing, where are the jobs? now, just because that was the most shared question didn't mean everyone liked it or agreed with it. tl there were a lot of people who thought this was inappropriate because it was the president's forum not the speaker's forum. from what i can see, boehner was the only famous person. from the others, two were about education, one was about the debt kreceiling. the other was about jobs. >> not surprising at all. we have literally 20 seconds. people want to know, first lady is what? what is she on? home makeo